Roofing Tile

ABSTRACT

A quadrilateral roofing tile wherein has two parallel sides present with their edges bent through 90° in opposite directions to engage under traction with a first adjacent tile by ribs and complementary seats, those edges are the seats being provided at their ends with apertures which can be superposed on portions of an adjacent second tile for engagement by roof fixing elements, and can be covered by that bent edge of the first adjacent tile which comprises the ribs.

The present invention relates to a roofing tile.

Roofing tiles formed of plastic polymer material are available in themost varied shapes and present high mechanical properties and strength.

These tiles, which are either substantially flat or are in the from of asemi-cylindrical body provided with coplanar lateral flanges, are fixedto the roof overlapping each other along an end or side edge, by a screwor nail through a hole suitably provided in their surface, which is thencovered with a plug.

These known tiles present however certain drawbacks and in particular:

-   -   unreliable water-tightness in the region of the hole which, even        if covered by the plug, in certain cases is not completely free        of water infiltration,    -   the tiles can lift one from another as a result of gusts of        wind.

The object of the invention is to eliminate these drawbacks by providinga roofing tile which is both reliably watertight and can be reliablyfixed to the adjacent tiles.

This object is attained by a quadrilateral roofing tile as claimed inclaim 1.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention and a variant thereofare described in detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a roofing tile according to theinvention seen from above,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view thereof seen from below,

FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6 show steps in their assembly,

FIGS. 7 and 8 are a plan view of a variant seen from below and fromabove, and

FIGS. 9 and 10 show enlarged details of-the coupling ends.

As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the tile of the invention is ofsubstantially square shape with a smooth upper surface 2, its lowersurface 4 comprising a plurality of stiffening ribs 6.

In the description the terms “lower” and “upper” are used to indicatethat surface facing the roof and that facing outwards respectively, theterms “transverse” and “longitudinal” being used to indicate thosedirections parallel and respectively perpendicular to the gutter line.

The tile is bent downwards through 90° along a first edge to form afirst flange 8, the inner surface of which comprises a plurality ofappendices perpendicular thereto, and is bent upwards through 90° alongits parallel edge to form a second flange 12 comprising a plurality ofslots 14.

The number of slots 14 corresponds to the number of appendices 10 andhave the same distance between axes.

Along one of its longitudinal edges the upper surface of the tilecomprises a depression forming a drainage channel 16 for rain water andis provided with directional drop breaker ribs 18. The tile is alsoprovided at the ends of the side containing the second flange with abush 20 and an appendix 22 which allow insertion of the screws or nailsfor its fixing to the roof.

Finally the lower surface of the tile presents a rib 24 which togetherwith the downwardly bent edge 26 forms a channel 16 complementary to thechannel 16.

The tile of the invention is applied to the roof in the followingmanner.

A first tile is applied along the gutter line so that the first edge 8is substantially flush with the gutter line and is then fixed to theroof by screws or nails inserted through the bush 20.

A second tile is then applied adjacent to the preceding such that thechannel 28 is superposed on the channel 16 and the appendix 22 and bush20 are mutually superposed, so enabling a second nail to be inserted.

When the row has been completed, that tile which was the first one to befixed is overlapped by a tile such that its edge 8 rests on the smoothsurface (see FIG. 4). Said tile is then pulled towards the ridge so thatthe appendices 10 engage in the slots 14 (see FIG. 5). By virtue of thistraction the upper transverse edge of the lower tile becomes covered bythe lower transverse edge of the overlapping tile, to hence mask theappendices and bushes.

The tile engaged in this manner is then fixed in that configuration byinserting nails through the bush 20.

It should be noted that the connection between the tiles of the firstrow (the gutter row) and those of the upper row can be achieved even ifthe tiles are offset, as the mutual arrangement of the appendices andslots allows various degrees of offset depending on the number n ofslots.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 the tile comprises asemi-cylindrical body 30, from the longitudinal edges of which thereextend two coplanar flanges 32.

The two flanges have those transverse edges 34 closer to the gutter linebent through 90° and comprise U-shaped ribs 38 for engagement as aninsertion fit into corresponding U-shaped seats 40 provided in thosetransverse edges 42 more distant from the gutter line.

The tiles are provided with a bush 44 and an appendix 46 for theirfixing to the roof and have their upper surface provided with arainwater drain channel 48 cooperating with a channel 50 present ontheir lower side.

The tiles of this embodiment are also applied by applying a first tilealong the gutter line with its edge 34 flush with the gutter line, thenfixing it to the roof by screws or nails inserted through the bushes.Again in this case a second tile is applied adjacent to the precedingsuch that the channel 50 is superposed on the channel 48 and theappendix 46 and bush 40 are mutually superposed to enable a second nailto be inserted.

From the aforegoing it is apparent that the tile of the inventionpresents numerous advantages, and in particular:

-   -   it provides reliable water-tightness as the regions through        which the screws or nails are inserted are covered by the        overlying tile,    -   it provides reliable resistance to stresses by wind gusts as        lifting is prevented in both directions, by virtue of the double        longitudinal and transverse insertion fit.

1. A quadrilateral roofing tile wherein two parallel sides present theiredges bent through 90° in opposite directions to engage under tractionwith a first adjacent tile by means of ribs and complementary seats,those edges comprising the seats being provided at their ends withapertures which can be superposed on portions of an adjacent second tilefor engagement by roof fixing elements, and be covered by that bent edgeof the first adjacent tile which comprises the ribs.
 2. The roofing tileas claimed in claim 1, comprising a flat surface.
 3. The roofing tile asclaimed in claim 1, comprising right angled corners.
 4. A The roofingtile as claimed in claim 1, wherein a surface of the tile comprises,along one of the edges perpendicular to the parallel sides a rainwaterdrainage channel coverable by a corresponding channel provided on thelower surface of the second adjacent tile which overlaps it.
 5. Theroofing tile as claimed in claim 1, further comprising at least onesemi-cylindrical portion (30), from the edges of which there extendcoplanar flanges.
 6. The roofing tile as claimed in claim 1, wherein theribs are of U cross-section and engage in corresponding U-shaped seats.7. A The roofing tile as claimed in claim 1, wherein the apertures arein the form of bushes.